Brenda Baber

Own, Buying or Selling a House with Cracks?

by Brenda Baber

Subsidence Engineer Reports, Wall Crack Engineer Reports

Subsidence Engineer Reports, Wall Crack Engineer Reports, RPEQ Structural Engineer Reports.

Forensic Engineers are the industry specialists. SE Qld & Nth NSW. 100% Independent, Fast & Accurate.
 

by Brenda Baber

Home Owner Saved Thousands on Underpinning

Structural Engineer Underpinning Report:

Thinking of underpinning? Contact us for an Expert Structural Engineer Report.

We Are Independent and We Aren't Trying to Sell You Anything.

by Brenda Baber

Marsden House for Sale; Scary Cracks found

𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗥 𝗤𝗨𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗙𝗜𝗫!. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒔.

The owner had a free assessment from a fast-talking Underpinning Sales Rep.

But our Independent Structural Engineer Report found there had been some slight old settlements and some old cracks, and the house was now stable.

Despite the persuasive talk fro the underpinning sales rep, NO UNDERPINNING WAS NEEDED AT ALL and simple, affordable crack repairs was the solution. The seller and the buyer were thrilled!

𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 & 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀? Don't Stress Out.

𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 no-obligation, chat and advice.

And if you want, we can help you further with a 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒓 𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕.

𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗻𝘆 unnecessary 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.

by Brenda Baber

Subsidence, Wall Cracks, Retaining wall leaning

Our pre-purchase Engineer Report for the buyer found the causes. And the solutions are simple & affordable.

Our expert report for the buyer found there has been some settlements of the footings and and the slab some time ago, but they were not serious and they had stopped. The cracks can be affordably repaired, the garage floor can be lifted simply and economically with Polyurethane Resin Injection, and the leaning wall can be monitored.

𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘁 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗗!

Thanks to our brilliant independent Structural Engineer Report. The buyer was thrilled and could not wait to move in!

Home owners, buyer or sellers. Contact Forensic Engineers for expert subsidence advice. We will never let-you-down.

by Brenda Baber

Structural Engineer Reports - All in a Day's Work

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟭; 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝘃𝗮𝗹 - 𝗥𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀
The owner of a 1970's bungalow was renovating and needed expert advice about how to repair cracked and displaced bricks. We found that footing settlements and rotation was the cause. And we recommended a number of procedures to reduce footing movements and some great methods to repair the damaged bricks.

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟮; 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗹𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 -𝗢𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀
House on-the-market with some old subsidence and repaired cracks. Our investigation found that there had been some footing settlements due to loose material in the footings when the footings were poured and also seepage had been softening the founding material. That had been stabilized and the house was sound-as-a-pound

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟯; 𝗠𝘁 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗯𝘆 - 𝗥𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀
We found the galvanizing had been damaged by the concretors during the build, and the post bases had not been "tanked". Cleaning and treating post bases will prolong the life of some posts, but post replacement will be required in the future.

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟰: 𝗥𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗼𝗱 - 𝗚𝗮𝗽𝘀 & 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀
House with some typical gaps and cracks. We found that the slab had very serious deflections that were progressing and significant underpinning would be required to stabilize the house.

𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟱: 𝗦𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗟𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 - 𝗪𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗱 𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗯 𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲.
We inspected this house for the buyer. A small section of the slab edge beam had broken away and edge reinforcement was exposed. Our investigation found that the damage was localized and the slab had no significant deflections in this area. Our expert structural engineer report recommended simple cost-effective repairs.

𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀
𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗗𝗮𝘆

by Brenda Baber

Sink Hole at Taigum, Serious House Settlements at Kuraby and Subsidence at Mermaid Waters

𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖 𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙧𝙨.

𝗧𝗮𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗺 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 - 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀.

• A broken water pipe had caused a large sink hole to form under a townhouse driveway.
• Our investigation found that the slab had not been damaged and we recommended the hole could be filled and the driveway slab re-supported using either Polyurethane Resin Injection, or with hyflow cementitious grout aka "Mud-Jacking".

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗯𝘆 C𝗮𝘀𝗲 - 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿.

• This older house had serious movements of the perimeter footings and the stumps under the floor. Most of Kuraby has highly plastic clay founding soils which can cause footings to seriously lift and settle and often "rotate" (lean).
• The footings had moved so much that the timber floor had become unstable and we recommended vacating and comprehensive re-stumping & replacement of the perimeter base and footings.

𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 - 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 P𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 O𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿.

• The townhouse complex is located on compressible landfill which has been slowly settling for decades. We identified recent cracks and gaps and serious variations in the floor levels which would be due to active settlements of the founding materials.
• We considered a number of methods for stabilizing the house footings and the only reliable one would be using conventional underpinning, possibly incorporating some steel screw piers where a water table is encountered.

𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗢𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 & 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀

by Brenda Baber

Wall Cracks growing

Our structural engineer inspection for the owner of this Wellington Point house found;

• Gradual footing settlements were slowly progressing, year after year, and seriously damaging the house.

• The cause could be traced back decades to when the house was built.

• The original site preparation included cutting and filling, which had pushed loose landfill to one side of the building platform, and the house footings were not dug deep enough to properly support the house on one side.

• The original site clearing had involved removal of very large trees, and this had disturbed the soil to considerable depth.

Our structural engineer report found that the best way to stabilise and fix the house was with conventional, reliable underpinning utilising reinforced concrete piers.

Other methods such as steel screw piers were more expensive, and urethane resin was not applicable in this case.

Mehrtens Underpinning & Construction did brilliant work with the underpinning, and all of the building repairs were included in their scope.

by Brenda Baber

Gaps in window reveals and door jambs

Building & Pest Inspection identified gaps in window reveals and door jambs due to possible subsidence & we were asked to investigate.

Our Structural Engineer Report found that there had been some initial settlements that opened some gaps, but the house was quite stable.

We found that there was no requirement for any structural repairs (underpinning) and the gaps could be sealed where required. Peace-of-mind for the seller & buyer.

Home owners & buyers with subsidence issues can rely on Forensic Engineers for an honest, independent engineer report

by Brenda Baber

House for Sale with Wall Cracks & Gaps?

This house in the Brisbane suburb of Banyo was on the market and buyers were alarmed about wall cracks and gaps.

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.

A really thorough Building & Pest Inspector recommended contacting Forensic Engineers for an expert investigation.
Our Expert Structural Engineer Report found that the house had some previous movements of the footings and that there were still some ongoing movements and wall cracks and gaps.

But, thank goodness! 𝗡𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗮𝗽𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆.
The property owner and buyer was so relieved, thanks to 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀

by Brenda Baber